
Historical Papers J^ 
of the Society of %^ 
ColoniaiWars in the 
District of G)Iumbia 
No. 6,I9n Ji^jft 




C. C. Magruder, Jr. 



COLONEL 

NINIAN 

BEALL. 




COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 

Born in Largo, Fifcshirc, Scotland, 1625, 

Died in Prince George's County, Maryland, 1 7 17. 



Historical Address on the 
Occasion of the Dedication 
of a Memorial Boulder to 
Colonel Ninian Beall 
Delivered by 

Caleb Clarke Magfr«der, Jr. 
in St. John's Cnurch, 
Georgetown, D. C, 
Sunday, October 30, J 9 JO. 



Printed under the auspices of 

The Society of Colonial Wars in the District of Columbia 

January 27, 1911 






©if t 



to 



^ 



Introduction. 

IN the summer of 1909 the finding of a large boulder 
in a cut on the line of the Metropolitan Southern 
railway near the junction of the right of way with 
the Glen Echo railway was communicated to Dr. Marcus 
Benjamin and by him promptly referred to Mr. William 
Van Zandt Cox, then Governor of the Society of Colonial 
Wars in the District of Columbia. 

Appreciating the fact that this boulder might be used 
to preserve the memory of Colonel Joseph Belt whose 
career had been so fully presented to the Society in a 
valuable paper* by our Historian, Mr, Cox at once ap- 
pointed a Committee on Memorials, as follows: Mr. 
Thomas Hyde, chairman, Mr. Caleb C. Magruder, Jr., 
Judge Job Barnard, Dr. Marcus Benjamin, and Mr. 
Williams. Knox. The Committee was quickly convened 
by its chairman and their first efforts were directed 
toward securing formal possession of this valuable find. 
The rock was inspected by members of the Committee 
who found to their great satisfaction that since it had 
blocked the progress of the contractor he had so blasted 
it as to make two boulders of nearly equal size. Through 
the courtesy of Mr. George E. Hamilton, local attorney 
for the Metropolitan Southern railway, permission was 
given to the Committee to remove the boulders. They 
were accordingly placed in the vicinity of Chevy Chase 
Circle where they remained until authority was given to 
the Committee for final action. 

In the autumn the Chairman of the Committee made 

^Historical Paper, No. 5, Colonel Joseph Belt. By Caleb Clarke 
Magruder, Jr., with Patent and illustration of Chevy Chase 
manor-house, pp. 36. 1909. 

(3) 



4 COIvONEIv NINIAN BEALL 

a verbal report to the Society recommending that one 
boulder be placed near Chevy Chase Circle to commemo- 
rate the services of Colonel Joseph Belt, and that the 
other be erected in Georgetown as a memorial to Colonel 
Ninian Beall, whose association during the Colonial pe- 
riod with the province of Maryland now included in the 
District of Columbia, had previously been interestingly 
described in a paper read before the Society by Mr. 
Zebina Moses and later privately published by him. 

This report was approved by the Society and the Com- 
mittee was authorized to have the boulders placed in 
suitable localities. The Committee visited various eligi- 
ble sites, and finally decided to place one boulder at the 
northwest corner of the parking facing All Saints' Church, 
at the junction of the Belt Road and Connecticut Avenue, 
Chevy Chase, south of Grafton street and just within the 
District line. 

The other boulder was erected at the southeast corner 
of O and Potomac streets on the grounds of St. John's 
Church, Georgetown, D. C. It was also recommended 
that the boulder in memory of Colonel Beall be dedicated 
in the autumn of 1910, and that to Colonel Joseph Belt at 
a date to be decided upon later. It is hoped that these 
granite boulders commemorating the life and works of 
worthy colonial heroes may serve to testify to the high 
respect and esteem with which their memory is preserved 
by loyal descendants in the Society of Colonial Wars. 

There remains only to add that because of the interest 
of a descendant of Colonel Ninian Beall, a member of the 
local Society, an appropriate bronze tablet was obtained 
and placed on the boulder in Georgetown. An account 
of the exercises that formed a part of the dedication 
ceremony is also included in this pamphlet. 



The Ceremonies. 

WHEN information came to the Committee that 
the bronze tablet for the Ninian Beall memo- 
rial bearing an inscription prepared by the 
Historian, was approaching completion Justice Barnard, 
Governor of the District Society, appointed a committee 
consisting of Dr. Marcus Benjamin, Mr. Zebina Moses, 
and Mr. Frederick D, Owen to arrange for the dedicatory 
ceremonies. The general preparation of the program was 
undertaken by the Chairman, while to Mr. Moses was 
assigned the care of the church, and to Mr. Owen, whose 
skill in similar functions is so favorably known, was 
given the charge of the outdoor exercises of the unveiling. 

The day selected was the last Sunday in October, and 
shortly before four o'clock in the afternoon the members, 
wearing the insignia of the Society, gathered in the 
rooms of the Parish House and then at the appointed 
time, preceded by the standard bearers carrying the flag 
of the Society and the Nation's colors, and led by Gov- 
ernor Barnard, followed by former governors, and offi- 
cers, and then the members, marched into the church. 

Scarcely had they taken the places assigned to them 
when the organ broke forth with the music of the proces- 
sional hymn: 

"Ancient of days, who sittest throned in glory; 
To Thee all knees are bent, all voices pray." 

Following the choristers, chanting the sacred words, 
came the clergy, including the Reverend Doctor Roland 
Cotton Smith, Chaplain of the Society; the Reverend 
Frederick B. Howden, rector of St. John's; Archdeacon 

(5) 



6 COLONEI. NINIAN BEALL 

Richard P. Williams; and the Right Reverend Alfred 
Harding, Bishop of Washington. 

Then came the Choral Even Song, the Rector ofi&ciat- 
ing, and the lesson from the Epistle to the Hebrews being 
read by Archdeacon Williams. The Prayers included 
the following one specially prepared for the Society of 
Colonial Wars: 

O God, who hast promised in Thy Holy Word to show 
mercy unto generation after generation of those who 
love Thee, and keep'Thy commandments. We give Thee 
hearty thanks for the good examples of all those Thy 
servants who bore faithful witness for true religion and 
Christian freedom in the days of our forefathers. And 
we humbly beseech Thee to continue Thy protection to 
their children, and especially to the members of the 
Society of Colonial Wars. Strengthen them to be de- 
fenders of their country's Godly heritage, and mercifully 
grant that all things in this, our Fatherland, may be so 
ordered and settled upon the best and surest foundations, 
that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and 
piety, may be established among us for all generations. 
All of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Eord. 

At the close of the Service the choristers sang the 

martial hymn: 

"The Son of God goes forth to war, 
A kingly crown to gain." 

Then came the address of Mr. Caleb C. Magruder, Jr. , 
the Historian of the Society, which appears elsewhere in 
this pamphlet. 

The anthem by Nay lor followed, the opening sentence 
being: "Behold, God is great, and we know Him not, the 
number of His years is unsearchable." 

The Society, with its flags, then passed from the 
church, and, with the clergy, assembled about the me- 
morial boulder. The Chaplain of the Society conducted 



COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 7 

the outdoor service, which began with the following 
exhortation: 

Good People, We are gathered together in the Name and 
Presence of Almighty God, to dedicate a memorial of the 
noble works of which we have heard with our ears, and 
our fathers havedeclared unto us that God did then in their 
days and in the old time before them. For they got not 
the land in possession through their own sword, neither 
was it their own arm that helped them; but God's right 
hand, and God's arm, and the light of God's countenance, 
because He did a favour unto them. Wherefore I beseech 
you to call upon God our Father, through our Lord 
Jesus Christ, that he would assist us in this our present 
undertaking, and in all other works undertaken for the 
glory of God and the good of this nation. 

This was followed by proper prayers including the 
Collect for the Society of Colonial Wars. 

The memorial was then unveiled by the following 
members of the Society, descendants of Colonel Ninian 
Beall: William M. Beall, J. Malcolm Henry, J. William 
Henry, Thomas Hyde, Caleb C. Magruder, Jr., Dr. 
Steuart B. Muncaster, Dr. Henderson Suter, and Dr. 
Walter A. Wells. After which the memorial was dedi- 
cated with the following words: 

On behalf of the vestry of St. John's Church, George- 
town Parish, in the Diocese of Washington, I do dedi- 
cate this boulder, erected by the Society of Colonial 
Wars in the District of Columbia, to the memory of 
Ninian Beall. We yield Thee hearty thanks most merci- 
ful Father, that it hast pleased Thee to place among men 
Thy servant of strong arm and Christian voice whose 
works helped to make possible the building of our nation 
and the spread of Thy teachings. We thank Thee also 
for those of his children who have followed in his path- 
way of Christian religion and civic virtue. And humbly 



8 COIvONEL NINIAN BEALL 

we beseech Thee to grant, that by Thy grace, all his 
worthy qualities may be born again in each succeeding 
generation to the glory of Thy Holy Name and the per- 
petuation of our country, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

The service concluded with a benediction by the Right 
Reverend Alfred Harding, Bishop of Washington. Dis- 
tinct features of the occasion were the choral service 
under the direction of Organist and Choirmaster Will- 
iams, and the presence of numerous descendants of Colonel 
Beall, many of them members of American Clan Gregor, 
as were also members of the District of Columbia Society 
of Colonial Dames, and members of the Club of Colonial 
Dames, both of which organizations were officially invited 
to be present. 



Colonel Ninian Beall. 

By Cai,eb Clarke Magruder, Jr. 

WHEN its travail is past and its young growth 
attained nations are wont to indulge in retro- 
spection. This world-old custom gives rise to 
patriotism and the writing of history. 

These twin subjects stimulate similar efforts, for 
"History is past politics," and genealogy is past personal 
history. 

Among the resultants have been the erection of monu- 
ments, the placing of tablets, and the setting of boulders. 

Such is a most wholesome custom for by them we make 
live again the deeds of our heroes, acknowledge the 
priceless heritages bequeathed us, and blazon in the paths 
of youth those qualities which in perpetuation shall pre- 
serve "us a nation." 

And so with these three-fold desires it is a happy occa- 
sion which brings us together in the waning shadows of 
this holy afternoon, for we are met to record in bronze 
on everlasting rock the deeds of a conspicuous factor in 
Colonial days. 

The boulder set in the Cathedral Close to mark the 
route of Braddock's march against Fort Duquesne stands 
as the first memorial of a local colonial event, and the 
boulder we shall soon unveil will stand as the first com- 
memorative of a local Colonial personage. 

(9) 



10 COIvONEL NINIAN BEALL 

Therefore it is with a measure of pardonable pride that 
the Society of Colonial Wars in the District of Columbia 
greets their friends in this hour of another successful en- 
deavor in patriotic duty and personal gratification. 

The inscription on yonder tablet is a concise statement 
of many winnowed facts. It is my pleasant task to be 
more diffuse, and recount services — military, civil, and 
secular — so that knowing them, and remembering the 
period of his activity, we may all the better appreciate 
that this memorial stands not only for the man, but for 
all the noble qualities which were his. 
/ Ninian Beall was born in Largo, Fifeshire, Scotland, 
in 1625. He was a loyal Scot and cornet under the ban- 
ner of Leslie who was routed by Cromwell and Monk at 
the battle of Dunbar in 1650. 

Taken prisoner there he was transported to Barbadoes 
and thence to Maryland, where he settled in Calvert 
County about 1655, certainly as early as I658, 

A victim of the fortunes of war he was sentenced to 
five years in bondage — an honorable servitude — and that 
he performed its requirements honestly and faithfully is 
evidenced by the Provincial records of January 16, I667, 
reading: "Then came Ninian Beale of Calvert County, 
Planter, and proved right to 50 acres of land for his 
time service performed with Richard Hall of same 
county." 

Ninian Beall' s earliest activity in Indian affairs is sug- 
gested in an order of May 16, I676, emanating from the 
Lord-Proprietor and his Council, by whom he was sum- 
moned to appear before them to testify regarding the 
murder of five Susquehannocks. 

The Navigation Act, passed in 1645, and many times 




The Finding of the Boulders. 



/ 

COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 11 

reenacted, restricted the carrying of exports and imports 
on English bottoms between the mother-country and the 
colonies, and was the cause of pronounced complaint in 
Maryland and Virginia. 

So great became the discontent in the latter province 
that hostilities began under Nathaniel Bacon — the first 
American Rebel — in I676, just one hundred years before 
the signing of an instrument whose spirit of defiance 
inspired a type which made revolution possible. 

Fearing the revolt might assume large proportions in 
Maryland, where an armed force under Davis and Pate 
had already assembled in Calvert County, Governor 
Thomas Notley ordered the "Loyall Charles of Mary- 
land," Lord Baltimore's "Yacht or vessel of warr" to 
cruise in the waters adjacent to Virginia under command 
of Captain John Coode and Ninian Beall whom he named 
as Lieutenant on November 8, I676. "And I Doe hereby 
constitute and appoint Ninion Beal, your Lievetenant in 
said Yacht or Vessell, who is hereby also authorized and 
empowered to act doe and performe in all thinges as 
3'our Lievetenant, as amply fully and largely to all intents 
and purposes as if he had read a Speciall Commission 
drawneto that purpose." 

Fortunately at least for the peace of the two colonies 
Bacon's meteoric career ended within a few months — some 
authorities say by poison — when Davis and Pate paid the 
penalty of insurrection with their lives. 

There seems to be no record of Ninian Beall as a 
private soldier, but doubtless his military experiences in 
Scotland had prepared him for immediate martial leader- 
ship in the new world. 

The policy of Maryland settlers was always one of 



12 COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 

equity and good will toward the Indians, which bore 
fruit in kindly reciprocal action. 

There were long the isolated murder and occasional 
attack expected of savage natures, some times inspired 
by the evil influence of rival parties, but the colony 
never experienced such massacres the descriptions of 
which form bloody pages in the history of sister colonies. 

The Patuxents, the Piscataways, and the Choptanks 
were early friends. The Nanticokes and Susquehannocks 
were more ferocious, but the former were soon tamed, 
and the latter were forced to friendliness as a matter of 
self-preservation from their ancient enemies the Senecas 
and the Oneidas. 

Notwithstanding such occasional disturbances only the 
possibilities of greater dangers existed. Realizing these 
a most thorough system of ranging throughout the 
borders of the province was inaugurated by Ninian Beall, 
and we can recall no equally preventive measure under 
the leadership of one so seemingly well acquainted with 
Indian nature. 

On the 10th of August, I678, Lieutenant Beall, now 
for the first time styled Captain, was ordered to range 
about the head of the Patuxent River to insure the safety 
and defense of the neighboring plantations, but to offer 
no violence unless provoked. 

The diligence and thoroughness with which this duty 
was performed, and the appreciation of Lord Baltimore 
and his Council is indicated by a subsequent commission 
"by his Lordship's especiall command," carrying the 
exercise of broad military discretion in these words: 

' 'You are hereby Authorized and Empowered Upon any 
occasion of Indians comeing into your parts, or other 



COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 13 

emergent business, to press a mann and horse to give 
what speedy Intelligence thereof possible you cann to his 
Ldsp, for which this shall be your Sufficient Warrant. 
Dated at St Maries the 13th Day of January Anno Dmi 
1681. 

Signed p order and appointment of the Rt honble the 
Lord Propry 

p John lylewellen 
cl consil 
To Captain Ninian Beale 
These" 

The exact date of his promotion to the rank of 
Major is not of record, but he held such rank March 24, 
1689, when he was ordered by Henry Jowles, Colonel of 
Calvert County, to hold his command in readiness to 
learn the attitude of the Indians prior to the outbreak of 
the revolution of that year. 

The basic events which led to the Revolution of 1689 
were a series of unfortunate and unpreventable circum- 
stances. Because of them the lyord-Proprietor was 
robbed of his inherited Charter rights, and the people 
deprived of that freedom of conscience through religious 
exercises always theirs but more specifically proclaimed 
in the Toleration Act of 1649. By this act Maryland 
became "The Land of Sanctuary," and as such stood 
unique and alone among the thirteen colonies. 

In 1684 George Talbot, a kinsman of Lord Baltimore, 
boarded a ship of the King's navy used to collect custom 
duties. Among the crew was Christopher Rousby, a 
notorious character one of the King's collectors. While 
in a drunken condition Rousby insulted and attempted 
to assault Talbot, who stabbed him to death. Shortly 
after John Payne, another collector, was killed in a 
private brawl. 



i 

14 COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 

James II having been forced to abdicate his throne in 
favor of his daughter Mary in 1688, Lord Baltimore im- 
mediately dispatched a messenger to the Council with 
instructions to proclaim William and Mary as rightful 
sovereigns, but the messenger died before landing. 
Other colonies proclaimed the new rulers but the Council 
of Maryland awaited instructions. 

The cry arose that the crown was being robbed of its 
just custom dues, that the Proprietary government was 
unfriendly to William and Mary, who were Protestants, 
and that the Catholics were bent on restoring King 
James to the throne. The movement was not at first 
popular, but owing to ignorance of affairs because of 
scattered habitations religious prejudices were aroused 
by alleged plottings and murder. 

John Coode, who gained an unenviable prominence be- 
cause of his connection with Kendall's rebellion in his 
effort to overthrowlyord Baltimore's government in 1659, 
raised the standard of revolt as the protector of the Prot- 
estants and the representative of King William. An 
association being formed with Coode as its head they 
marched to St. Mary's and dispersed the Council, 

L,ord Baltimore's adherents under Colonel Henry 
Darnall engarrisoned themselves at Mattapany but were 
shortly outnumbered and surrounded. Finding further 
resistance could only lead to the sacrifice of many lives 
they received articles of surrender signed by Coode, 
Ninian Beall, and others. Forced to capitulate on the 
offered terms all their arms and ammunition were sur- 
rendered to Colonel Henry Darnall and Major Ninian 
Beall. 

The immediate result was the formation of a Protestant 
Association by which Coode was made Commander-in- 



COI.ONEL NINIAN BEALL 15 

Chief of military forces and the governing head of civil 
affairs with Ninian Beall as a leading assistant in both 
branches of government. King William was petitioned 
to take possession of the colony, which he speedily did 
and sent out Sir lyionel Copley as governor in 1691. 
Maryland thus became a Royal Colony and so continued 
for twenty-five years, although lyord Baltimore's charter 
was permitted to remain in force. 

Coode proved himself a high-handed tyrant in many 
ways, particularly in his restrictions toward the Cath- 
olics, and made the blackest page in Maryland history. 

The Revolution of 1689 was the greatest upheaval, 
civilly and religiously, in Maryland from the time of the 
planting of the colony until the outbreak of the Revo- 
lutionary war. Apart from the circumstances before 
mentioned it is almost incredible that such a despicable 
character as Coode could involve so many substantial 
men in the vortex of his ambitions. That the reports 
concerning plots between Catholics and Indians to mur- 
der Protestants was without foundation is evidenced by 
a letter written March 27, 1689, and signed by many 
representative men of the province, among them Ninian 
Beall. 

One of the early acts of the Council in 1692 was the 
establishment of the Church of England as the state 
church of the colony, a measure favored by Ninian Beall, 
although he was a Presbyterian. 

The popularity and prestige of the promoters of the 
Revolution was short-lived, Coode in particular falling 
into quick disfavor. He reappeared again in 1696, when 
he was elected a Burgess from St. Mary's County, but Gov- 
ernor Nicholson, backed by his council, refused to ad- 
minister the oath of office to him, asserting that as an 



16 COLONKL NINIAN BEALI. 

apostate lie was debarred by the laws of England from 
membership in a legislative body. 

Coode offered to foreswear his ordination. The House 
of Burgesses, actuated more by a determination to main- 
tain their prerogatives than by regard for the man, de- 
clared their right to be judges of the qualifications of 
their own members and insisted on his membership. 
Governor Nicholson was as "A Head of Iron," and 
when he added blasphemy to the charge of apostasy the 
House took counsel with itself, and endorsed his stand. 

Coode immediately sought to overthow the government 
he had been prominent in establishing, but his character 
was too well known, and as a discredited alarmist, he 
was forced to flee the colony. He afterward returned 
and was pardoned, an example of maudlin magnanimity. 
This episode is the origin of the organic law of Maryland 
which prohibits any clergyman being a member of her 
legislature, the only one of our states with such a legal 
inhibition. 

When Sir Francis Nicholson became Governor, he 
issued a proclamation over date of July 27, 1694, con- 
tinuing in service all military and civil ofl&cers holding 
commissions under his predecessor's Council by whom 
Major Ninian Beall had been made Colonel and Com- 
mander-in-Chief of all their Majesty's forces or militia 
of horse and foot in Calvert County, October 29, 1692. 

On the 9th of October, 1694, the militia of the prov- 
ince was reorganized and special colors designated for 
horse, foot, and dragoon of the several counties. St. 
Mary's was assigned red; Anne Arundel, white; Kent, 
blue. This accidental distribution of colors, red, white 
and blue to the three oldest counties of Maryland in 
the order of their formation seems a most significant 



/ 

COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 17 

happening. George Washington, from whose arms our 

national emblem is derived, was yet unborn, and lyexing- 

ton was four-score years in the womb of time. 

"When I dipt into the future far as human eye could see! 

Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be." 

By this reorganization Henry Jowles succeeded Ninian 
Beall as Colonel of Calvert County. At the same time 
' 'It being Represented in Councill that Colonell Ninian 
Beale has allways been a person very ready & Service- 
able upon comotions or insurrections made by Indians 
and that he is seated convenient at the head of Patuxent 
River to give notice and raise Men upon all such inci- 
dent and Emergent occasions — And for as much as his 
Majties by his Roy all Instruction to his Kxecncy has 
Comanded that fitting officers should be Appointed at the 
heads of Rivers to the Sd End & purpose Ordered there- 
upon that Sd Colonell Beale have a particular Comis- 
sion for his Excency to raise and Comand what Men he 
thinkes fit in all the neighborhood in those parts upon all 
Occasions of such Comotion & insurrection so soone as 
the same shall come to his knowledge." 

In accordance with the Council's recommendation the 
following order issued: 

"I doe hereby Authorize and Empower Collonell 
Ninian Beale to Execute all the powers According to the 
above Order of myself and their Majties Honoble Coun- 
cell, for wch this shall be his Comission. 

Given under my hand & Seale this l8th day of Octobr 
Annoq Dom: 1694 in the Sixth Yeare of their Majties 
Reigne 

ffracs Nicholson [Seal.]" 

On August 17, 1695, a new county was ordered 
erected in the province to be known as Prince George's 
in honor of Prince George of Denmark, prince consort, 



18 COI.ONEL NINIAN BEALL 

whose colors should be the flag of St. George, our 
Society's flag, a red cross on a white field. 

The functions of county government began on April 
23d, 1696, St. George's Day, an explanation for the 
county sometimes being referred to in the older records 
as St. George's. The seat of government was located at 
Mount Calvert on the Patuxent River; and it was further 
ordered by the Council that the public building should 
be so constructed as to serve for the court house and 
church. This precedence of Mount Calvert was of short 
duration, the county-seat being moved to Upper Marl- 
borough in 1706. The new county of Prince George's 
consisted of four hundreds — Patuxent, Collington, 
Mount Calvert, and Mattapany with a total of 514 tax- 
ables. William Hatton was named as Chief-Justice with 
directions to use his private seal for that of the court 
until one was adopted. William Cooper was clerk of the 
court, and John Addison, great-great-grandfather of 
the founder of this church. Reverend Walter Dulany 
Addison, colonel of militia. 

Colonel Ninian Beall and Major William Barton having 
been elected the first Burgesses they were inducted into 
office on May 11, I696, the service of the former extend- 
ing through five years. Hardly had he entered upon 
his duties before he was excused by the Assembly to 
inquire into the causes of some Indian alarms. 

In 1697 he was one of a committee to secure peaceful 
assurances from the Nanticokes and Piscataways. In 
view of their unrest it was thought wise to ask the co- 
operation of Colonel Beall notwithstanding he was no 
longer Colonel of the county, so that Colonel Addison 
was ordered to ' ' discourse ' ' Colonel Beall to ascertain 




u 



COLONEL NINIAN BEALL l9 

if he was still willing to continue in the commission he 
held for raising men upon any Indian disturbances. 

Learning the desire of the Council Colonel Beall 
promptly offered his services to command one party of 
the new Rangers to be raised along the " Potomak;" 
whereupon that body replied Colonel Beale " is well ac- 
cepted of by this board. ' ' 

During the sessions of I698 he was a member of the 
committee on Laws and the committee to examine the 
accounts of Robert Mason, Treasurer of the Western 
Shore, In the mid-fall of the same year he signed a 
testimonial of personal regard and acknowledgment of a 
beneficial administration to Sir Francis Nicholson, who 
was leaving Maryland to become for the second time 
Governor of Virginia. 

Sir Francis was the founder of William and Mary 
College, Williamsburg, Va., in 1693, after Harvard the 
oldest college in the United States, and of King William's 
School, now St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland, 
the first free school in Maryland, and the third oldest 
college in the United States. This zealous worker in the 
cause of education in two provinces deserves a memorial 
in their halls of fame. Appreciating his efforts Maryland 
has placed a tablet to his memory in Baltimore. 

In 1699 Colonel Beall represented the House of Bur- 
gesses on a committee appointed by the Assembly to 
investigate Indian affairs with such a marked degree of 
satisfaction that he was, on July 14, 1699, made Com- 
mander-in Chief of Rangers or Provincial forces, the 
supreme military command in the province. 

Seemingly not content with conferring this distin- 
guished honor the Council, with the concurrence of 



20 COLONElv NINIAN BEALL 

Governor Nathaniel Blackiston, directed this memorial to 
the House of Burgesses: "The consideration of this sub- 
ject [Indian affairs] brings into remembrance the many 
Signall Services and lyaborious Endeavours of Col Ninian 
Beal one of your Members which he still Continues 
Willingly Even beyond what his age seems capable of; 
And that good Services may not go unrewarded and 
others in time to Come Encouraged thereby to Exert 
their Abilitys in the Country Service It is recommended 
to your Consideration to make him some Allowance out 
of the public Stock to the Value of a hundred pounds or 
so much money as will buy him four Negros and that 
Some person may be Appointed to buy and deliver them 
to him and that they may be Settled in Some person for 
his use and Supporte during his life and after during his 
Wife's and after to such Child or Children as he shall 
depose by his last will and testamt. and not Subject to 
payment of any the said Beal's Debts." 

This recommendation echoed a most pronounced senti- 
ment of regard for Colonel Beall entertained by his 
fellow-members of the House of Burgesses. 

A bill was immediately drafted and after the required 
readings the Assembly passed "An Act of Gratuity:" 

' 'Whereas Colonell Ninian Beal has been found very 
Serviceable to this Province upon all Incursions and Dis- 
turbances of Neighbouring Indians and though now 
grown very Aged and less able to performe, Yet Con- 
tinues his Resolution even beyond his Ability to do the 
line Service att this Juncture of Affaires it is therefore 
thought fitt in Point of Gratitude, for Such his good 
service done and towards his Supporte & Reliefe now in 
his old age to make him an Allowance out of the Pub- 
lick Revenue of this Province Be it therefore Enacted 
by the Kings most Excellent Maty by and with the Ad- 



COIvONEL NINIAN BEALL 21 

vice and Consent of this present General Assembly and 
the Authority of the Same, That Mr William Hutch- 
ison a Member of this house as a Trustee for and on the 
behalfe of the said Col Ninian Beal hath hereby Given 
to him full power and Authority to Procure and Pur- 
chase three good Serviceable Negro Slaves for the Proper 
use and benefitt of him the said Colo Ninian Beal for 
and during his Naturall life and after his decease to the 
use of his wife during her Naturall life and after her 
decease then the said Negros & Slaves and their Encrease 
to the Sole use and Benefitt of their Child or Children 
according to the request or Devise of him the said Ninion 
Beal by will or otherwise and for that end and purpose 
the said William Hutchison hath hereby full power and 
Authority to draw a Bill or Bills for the Sume of 
Seventy five pound Sterling upon the Treasurer of the 
Western Shoar Who is likewise hereby required to Yield 
and Pay the Same out of the Public Stock of this Prov- 
ince for which he shall be Allowed and have Creditt in 
his Acct currant att the Rendring thereof as p Act of 
Assembly he is obliged And be it further Enacted by 
the Authority aforesaid by and with the Advice and 
Concent aforesaid That the said Negroes and their In- 
crease Shall not dureing the life of the said Ninian Beal 
or his wife be taken in Execution for any Judgement or 
Attachment Whatsoever Obtained or hereafter to be ob- 
tained any Law Statute or usage to the Contrary in any 
wise Notwithstanding." 

The exact date of its final passage is unknown but 
Colonel Beall acknowledged receipt of the three slaves- 
John, Sarah, and Elizabeth— May 28, 1699- 

This act is the superlative formal expression of appre- 
ciation and reward passed in favor of an individual during 
Colonial times— a period of one hundred and forty-two 
years. 

There is an apparent discourtesy to one of their mem- 
bers by the House of Burgesses in reducing the amount of 



22 COLONEI. NINIAN BEALL 

the gratuity from one hundred pounds sterling to seventy- 
five pounds sterling as proposed by the Council. It is 
more apparent than real however when we recall that 
the House of Burgesses represented the people and were 
the guardians of the purse-strings of the province. More- 
over they purposed by such action to impress upon the 
Council their absolute freedom and liberty of action for 
which they were accountable to the people only and by 
which they sowed the seed of future independence. 

An old settlement account dated February 6, 1700, 
shows Colonel Beall had ranged 241 days for which his 
allowance was forty pounds three shillings four pence, 
a daily rate of less than three hundred dollars a year. 

The year 1700 saw his last service in the House of 
Burgesses, and one might naturally think that with the 
weight of seventy-five years upon him, and the "Act of 
Gratuity" as an official valedictory, he would be per- 
mitted to enjoy the evening of life in unmolested peace 
and quiet before his own hearth-stone. 

He had been instrumental in influencing the Piscata- 
ways toward their choice of an Emperor in 1696. Ocho- 
tomoquath had passed, and the tribe was wrangling over 
his successor, when on September 21, 1704, he was or- 
dered to join Colonel Addison and Colonel Small wood 
and inform those Indians that they should agree upon 
an Emperor to be presented to Governor Seymour at 
Annapolis for his confirmation, and that at the same time 
they should be prepared to pay their usual nominal trib- 
ute and renew their articles of friendship. 

Colonel Beall was appointed Deputy Surveyor for 
Charles County December 1, I684, with instructions to 
lay out ports of entry and trade towns. 

On September 1 5 , I686, he was Town Officer for Mount 



COLONEI^ NINIAN BEALI, 23 

Calvert hundred, and on the sixteenth of August, 1692, 
High Sheriff for Calvert County, a position of prominence 
and emolument combining nearly all the duties of the 
present-day county oflficials below the judiciary. 

Early in 1672 he had a grist mill on Collington branch 
where he later erected an iron foundry. 

Before the landing at Plymouth Rock, Puritanism was 
a living force in Virginia. Thither went its followers in 
l6ll settling in Warrasquake, now Nansemond County, 
where it is said Pocahontas was baptised and married by 
one of their pastors in I6l4. Persecutions arose and in 
1649 these religionists with William Durand as Ruling 
Elder moved to Maryland, settled at the mouth of the 
Severn river, which they named, and called their united 
plantations Providence. Out of this settlement grew 
Anne Arundel County in I65O, and Annapolis, the state 
capital, in 1695. 

Puritanism was sufficiently strong to temporarily 
change the current of political affairs at the Battle of the 
Severn in 1655, the year in which Ninian Beall sup- 
posedly settled in Maryland. 

It does not appear that he became involved in any of 
the controversies between his coreligionists and I,ord 
Baltimore's representatives though he at once became a 
factor among them, succeeding Durand as Ruling Elder. 
Under his guidance the creed flourished on the Western 
shore of Maryland during the pastorates of Matthew 
Hill and Nathaniel Taylor from I668 until 1717. 

Although of healthy growth the congregation had no 
church until on November 20. 1704, Colonel Beall deeded 
to Nathaniel Taylor a half acre of ground in Upper 
Marlborough, part of a tract of eighty-two acres, pat- 
ented December 4, 1694, and known as "The Meadows." 



24 COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 

Here a church was erected, and in 1707 he presented 
the congregation a silver communion service. When the 
church in Upper Marlborough was abandoned the service 
was removed to Bladensburg, and subsequently to 
Hyattsville. Some pieces have been lost, but of the 
original two chalices and a tankard are preserved. 

In 1906 the missing pieces were replaced with this 
inscription thereon: 

"This Server, and these Paten Covers which restore 
their lost originals, are presented this 20th day of De- 
cember in the year of Our I^ord I906 to the Hyattsville 
Presbyterian Church of Hyattsville, Prince George's 
County, Maryland, 

by a great-great-great-great-great-grandson of 

Col. Ninian Beall, 
Alpheus Benjamin Beall of Sioux City, Iowa. 
Presented in recognition of the service of Col. Ninian 
Beall, Venerable Ruling Elder among the Patuxent 
Presbyterians before I7OO A. D. who deeded to this Con- 
gregation in Upper Marlborough 
'A parcell of land' on which to erect its first 'House for 

the services of Almighty God,' 1704; 
who fathered this Congregation and saw it become one 

of the First seven original Churches 
of American Presbyterianism, I7O6; and who, in 1707 

A. D., gave to this Congregation 
this Communion Service, which is now, so far as known, 
the oldest in use in the Presbyterian Denomina- 
tion in America." 

Probably Ninian Beall' s first entry of right to land 
was made jointly in 1665 in the name of John Boage and 
Ringing Bell. When the certificate of survey issued the 
year following it conveyed three hundred acres called 
"Red Hall" to John Boage and Ninian Bell. 

From this date to the time of his death he j)atented 



COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 25 

over twenty-five thousand acres, for which he received 
certificates of survey for more than thirteen thousand 
acres, among which were Rock of Dunbarton (795), 
Bacon Hall (300), Beall's Meadows (1,088), Beall's 
Choice (690), Collington (300), Edonborough (38O), 
Friendship (600), Good Luck (853), Maiden's Dowry 
(700), St. Andrews (980), Troublesome (3OO), Largo 
(1,031). 

Colonel Beall passed his last days on his Bacon Hall 
plantation adjoining Mount Calvert, the first capital- of 
Prince George's County, about three miles southwest of 
Upper Marlborough the present county seat. Bacon 
Hall was granted to him May 1, 16/2, and was his home 
plantation as early as I686, when he was made Town 
Ofiicer for Mount Calvert. 

His will was executed on January 15, 1717, and pro- 
bated on February 28, 1717, so that his death occurred be- 
tween these dates. His remains were possibly buried on 
his plantation in accordance with the custom of those 
days, there are indications of an ancient grave-yard on 
the manor-house portion of Bacon Hall, but they were 
more probably interred within the confines of the God's 
half-acre which his christian charity prompted him to 
give to the Presbyterian congregation in Upper Marl- 
borough, the present site of Trinity Protestant Episcopal 
church. 

Colonel Beall has been pictured with a complection 
characteristic of his nationality, and an unusually heavy 
growth of long red hair. Of herculean build consider- 
ably over six feet in heighth, powerful in brawn and 
muscle and phenomenal in physical endurance, a descrip- 
tion which he sustained by his spirited activity after the 
age of more than eighty years. 



26 COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 

His wife was Ruth Moore, daughter of Richard and 
Jane Moore, a barrister of Calvert County. She died 
between 1699, when she was mentioned in the "Act of 
Gratuity," and 1704, when she did not join her husband 
in his deed of gift to the Presbyterian congregation. 

His will mentions sons George, Ninian and Charles; 
Mary and Samuel children of son Ninian, deceased; 
sons-in-law Joseph Belt and Andrew Hambleton. George 
was devised Rock of Dunbarton (408 acres patented for 
795), Charles, Dunnback; a thousand-acre tract lying on 
the Great Choptank river; Mary and Samuel, Bacon Hall 
with the manor-house to the latter who also received his 
water-mill and iron- works on Collington branch. Andrew 
Hambleton received a slave. Joseph Belt, two hundred 
and forty-five acres of Good Luck for a stated considera- 
tion to be divided among his heirs, less an open account 
for goods, wares and merchandise owed the said Belt. 

A tract known as Recovery of four hundred acres 
was to be sold in liquidation of outstanding debts. 
Charles was bequeathed a work by Bishop Cooper and 
he with George and Joseph Belt was directed to purchase 
twelve copies of "advice to young & old & middle age," 
by the Reverend Christopher Ness, for distribution among 
his grandchildren and godson.' 

Traditionally Colonel Beall was the father of twelve 
children. He mentions but three of them in his will by 
which he devised about two thousand eight hundred 
acres of land. Undoubtedly he had previously conveyed 
property to other sons and daughters upon their reach- 
ing age or marrying. 

Unfortunately the records of Calvert, in which county 
Colonel Beall lived until 1696, were destroyed by fire in 
1882, so that it seems impracticable to secure all of their 



COI.ONEIv NINIAN BEALI, 27 

names. The most acceptable list includes John, Thomas, 
died unmarried in England, Ninian, married Elizabeth 

, Captain Charles, married Mary , Colonel 

George, married Elizabeth Brooke, Sarah, married Cap- 
tain Samuel Magruder, Hester, married Colonel Joseph 
Belt, Jane, married Colonel Archibald Edmondstone, 
Mary, married Andrew Hambleton, Margery, married 
(firstly) Thomas Sprigg, 3d, and (secondly) Colonel 
Joseph Belt, her sister Hester's widower; Rachael, mar- 
ried Offutt, James. 

The early records of Maryland identify Colonel Beall by 
a variety of spelling such as: "Ninian Bale-Ringing, Bell- 
Ninian, Beale-Ninion, Beale-Ninian, Ninian Bell." He 
did not sign his will owing to illness, but it is his — marked 
"Ninian Beall," and he apparently uniformly adopted 
this style from about I667. 

Some works on heraldry give his arms as: 

Sable, a chevron between three wolves' heads erased 
argent. 

Crest — A demi-wolf sable, sustaining a half spear in 
plain tasseled or. 

The proper blazon is: 

Arms — Azure a chevron between three bells or. 

Crest— A bell or. 

When Colonel Beall settled in Maryland in 1655 there 
were four counties in the province: St. Mary's, Anne 
Arundel, Kent and Calvert with a population of about 
ten thousand. Two years before his death (1715) Mary- 
land was the third most populous of the colonies with 
50,200 souls, being exceeded by Massachusetts with 
96,000 and Virginia with 95,000, and exceeding Con- 
necticut, Pennsylvania including Delaware, New York, 



28 COLONEL, NINIAN BEAI.I. 

New Jersey, South Carolina, North Carolina, New Hamp- 
shire, Rhode Island, and Georgia, 

Descendants of Colonel Beall have figured conspicu- 
ously in all the wars of our country, and risen to dis- 
tinction in all the walks of civil life. He was the pro- 
genitor of at least four governors of Maryland: Samuel 
Sprigg, Enoch I,ouis Lowe, Thomas George Pratt, and 
Edwin Warfield. 

As Georgetonians your greatest interest probably cen- 
ters in the fact that Colonel Beall was the patentee of 
Rock of Dunbarton dated November 18, I703. It was 
in possession of his son Colonel George Beall and became 
part of the site of the town when the original survey 
and plat were completed on February 27, 1752. Two lots 
each having been assigned to Colonel George Beall and 
George Gordon those remaining were sold on the 2d 
of March following "at the house of Joseph Belt, Jr., 
living in said town," a grandson of Colonel Ninian Beall. 

Born of Presbyterian parentage in Harford County, 
Maryland, Stephen Bloomer Balch, pupil of John Wither- 
spoon and graduate of Princeton in 1774, was captain of a 
company of militia which several times had a brush with 
the British during the Revolution. I^icensed to preach in 
1 779 by the Presbytery of Donegal he delivered a sermon 
in Georgetown and so captivated his hearers by his force- 
fulness as a pulpit orator and the winsomeness of his 
personality that he was asked to remain with the promise 
of a church. 

Missionary work in the Carolinas and Georgia first 
claimed him, but on the l6th of March, 1780, he re- 
turned. It is probable that his first sermon following 
was delivered in a log cabin on High street. Later he 
used a building at the corner of Bridge and Market 



coi.on:EI, ninian beall 29 

streets which served as a school-house on weekdays and 
a church on Sunday. In 1782 a church was erected on 
West street which was replaced by the present structure 
in 1821, Thomas JefiFerson, then President, and Albert 
Gallatin, his Secretary of the Treasury, being among 
the contributors. 

Until the year 1804 Doctor Balch was the only Prot- 
estant clergyman in Georgetown. Too much the ideal 
christian to restrict his ministerial services to the mem- 
bers of his congregation he was a good shepherd to all 
who needed material aid or craved spiritual comfort. The 
nearest Episcopal church was St. Paul's, Rock Creek, 
a chapel of St. John's, Broad Creek, in turn a chapel of 
St. John's, Piscataway, the mother potential of many 
churches. 

In 1796 the Reverend Walter Dulany Addison, then 
pastor at Broad Creek, made a determined effort to col- 
lect a congregation and build a house of worship in 
Georgetown. Colonel William Deakins gave the ground, 
and about I804 the structure in which we have gathered 
was sufl&ciently inclosed to permit of service-holding. It 
was completed in I8O6, and consecrated in 1809. 

Through all the years of effort and disappointment 
preceding its erection Mr. Addison had the cheering 
assistance of Doctor Balch. When his intentions of 
founding a parish became known Doctor Balch offered 
his own church as a place of congregating, continued his 
interest in the new church project, and made a substan- 
tial contribution toward its completion. 

All this liberality is but a reflex of that broad Chris- 
tianity which characterized Colonel Ninian Beall when 
in 1691 he asked to his home the Quaker Thomas Wilson 
who there remained two nights with him and held a 



30 COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 

meeting. Wilson in writing of it all the more appre- 
ciated the kindnesses extended him because "he was an 
elder among Presbyterians." Again when Colonel Beall 
signed a petition to King William III asking that the 
Church of England become the established church of 
Maryland. 

And it will be still further emphasized this afternoon 
when a memorial boulder to a Ruling Elder of the Presby- 
terian church shall be unveiled in an Episcopal church-yard . 

The origin and growth of these two denominations in 
Georgetown trace from Doctor Batch and Mr. Addison. 
Doctor Balch married Elizabeth Beall, great-grand- 
daughter of Colonel Ninian Beall and in a later gener- 
ation Colonel Beall's descendants intermarried with those 
of Mr. Addison. Both of these good souls left their 
impress for all that is most ennobling and even yet the 
fragrance of their holy lives is like a benediction. 

When the veil is withdrawn from the boulder you 
may read this inscription on the tablet: 

Colonel Ninian Beall 
Born Scotland 1625 Died Maryland 1717 

Patentee of Rock of Dunbarton 
Member of the House of Burgesses 
Commander-in-Chief of Provincial Forces of Maryland 
In grateful recognition of his services upon all Incur- 
sions of Neighbouring Indians the Maryland Assembly 
of 1699 passed an "ACT OF GRATUITY." Erected 
by the Society of Colonial Wars in the District of 
Columbia. 

1910. 

The inner edge of the border showing a beaded effect, 
represents wampum; the arrow-heads are modeled after 
specimens gathered in Georgetown, the site of an Indian 



COLONEL NINIAN BE ALL 31 

village called Tohoga as early as 1608, and are alike true 
to nature and to history; while the outer edge presents 
Indian sketch-work indicative of sunshine and shadow. 
If the name of him whom we honor today has been 
long in the shadow of dark forgetfulness, let us hope 
that the deference here paid him may serve to bring that 
name into the bright sunshine of a worthy memory, to 
be illuminated always. 



Grant for **Bacon Hall/' May i, J672. 

CECELIUS Absoluts Lord Propry of the Provinces of Maryland 
and Avalon Lord Baron of Baltimore &c, To all persons to 
whom these presents shall come Greeting in our Lord God 
Everlasting 

Know yee that we for and in consideracon that Ninian Beale 
of Calvert County in our sd province of Maryland planter hath 
due unto him Three hundred Acres of Land within our said prov- 
ince part of a warrant for One Thousand & fifty acres of Land to 
him granted the Eighteenth day of July last past as appears upon 
record And upon such Conditions and terms as are Expressed in 
our Conditions of plantation of our said province of Maryland un- 
der our greater Seal at Armes bearing date at London the second 
day of July in the Year of our Lord God 1649 with such alterations 
as in them is made by our declaration bearing date the two and 
twentieth day of September Anno 1658 And Remaining upon rec- 
ord in our said province of Maryland. Do hereby grant unto him 
the said Ninian Beale all that parcell of land called [Bacon Hall] 
lying in Calvert County on the West side of the Western Branch 
of patuxent River, and beginningat a bounded Oak being the South 
East Corner Tree of the Land of Baker Brooke, Esqr called 
Brookes Grove, bounded by the said Land And running South 
West One hundred & sixty perches, to a bounded White Oak, in 
the Line of the Land of Peter Joy, bounded by the said Joy's Land, 
and running South East Two hundred and twenty perches, to a 
bounded pokehikary of the said Joyes Land, and running South 
West by another Line of the said Joyes Land One hundred and 
Sixty perches to a bounded poplar of the said Land and run- 
ning East by South One hundred and twenty perches, to a 
bounded White oak, of a parcell of Land formerly laid out for 
Thomas Trueman Esqr bounded by the said Land and from 
the said Oak running North and by East Seventy five perches 
to a bounded oak of the said Land, and from thence running still 
bounded by the said Land East and by South Eighty perches to a 
bounded Oak of the Land of John Bigger called [Muscle Shell] and 

(33) 



34 COIvONEI, NINIAN BEAI^L 

North and by West Two hundred and forty perches to a bounded 
Oak of a parcell of Land formerly laid out for Major Thomas 
Brooke, called the Grove Landing bounding by the said Land and 
running West and by North fifty perches to an Oak, and from 
thence to the first bounded Tree, Containing and now laid out 
for Three hundred Acres more or less, Together with all rights 
profits and benefitts thereunto belonging (Royall Mines Excepted) 
To have and to hold the Same unto him the said Ninian Beale his 
heirs and assigns forever. To be holden of us and our heirs as of 
our Mannr of Calverton in free and common Soccage by fealty 
only for all manner of Services Yielding and paying therefore 
Yearly unto us and our heirs at our receipt at our City of St. Maries 
at the two most usuall feasts in the Year Viz At the Feast of the 
Annunciation of our blessed Virgin Mary and at the feast of Saint 
Michael the Arch angell by even and equitable portions the Rent 
of Twelve Shillings Sterling in Silver or gold and for a fine upon 
every alienacon of the said Land or any part or parcell thereof One 
Whole years Rent in Silver or gold or the full value thereof in such 
Comodities as we or our heirs or such officer or officers appointed by 
us or our heirs from time to time to Collect and Receive the same 
shall Accept in discharge thereof at the choice of us and our heirs 
or such officer or officers as afd Provided that if the said Ninian 
Beale his heirs or assigns shall not pay unto us or our heirs or such 
officer or officers as afd. the said Sums for a fine before such alien- 
acon and Enter the said alienacon upon record either in the Provin- 
cial! Court or in the County Court where the said parcell of Land 
lyeth within One month next after such alienacon the said alien- 
acon shall be void and of none effect, — Given at our City of Saint 
Maries under our great Seal of our said province of Maryland the 
first day of May in the XXXXth year of our dominion over our 
sd. province Annoque Domi 1672 

Witness our dear Son Charles Calvert Esqr our Capt General 
and chief Governr of our said province of Maryld 



Patent for ''Rock of Dunbarton/' 
November J8, 1703. 

CHARLES Absolute Lord propry of the provinces of Mary- 
land and Avalon Lord Baron of Baltimore &c. , To all per- 
sons to whom these presents shall come Greeting in our 
Lord God Everlasting Know yee that for and in consideracou 
that Ninian Beale of Prince George's County hath due unto him 
seven hundred and ninety five acres of land within our said 
province being due unto him by Virtue of a warrant for five hun- 
dred acres granted him the nineteenth day of May one thousand 
seven hundred and two and another warrant for nine hundred and 
twenty acres granted him the sixth day of May one thousand 
seven hundred and two as appears in our Land office and upon 
such Condicons and termes as are expressed in our Coudicons of 
plantacons of our said province bearing date the fifth day of April 
one thousand six hundred eighty and four and remaining upon 
record in our said province together with such alteracons as in 
them are made by our further Condicons bearing date the fourth 
day of December one thousand six hundred and ninety six and 
registered in our land office of our said province Wee doe there- 
fore hereby grant unto him the said Ninian Beale all that Tract 
or parcell of land called Rock of Dunbarton lying in the said 
county Beginning at the South East Corner Tree of a Tract of 
land taken for Robert Mason standing by potomeck River side at 
the mouth of Rock Creek on a point running thence with the said 
land North North West six hundred and forty ps. thence east 
three hundred and twenty ps. then south six deg. and a half. 
Easterly four hundred and eighteen ps. then West one hundred 
and seventy five ps. then with a streight line by the creek and River 
to the first bound. Containing and then laid out for seven hundred 
ninety and five acres more or less according to the Cert, thereof 
taken and returned into our land Office bearing date of the fourth 
day of November seventeen hundred and two and there remaining 
together with all rights profits benefits and priviledges thereunto 

(35) 



36 COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 

belonging Royall mines excipted To have and to hold the Same 
unto him the said Ninian Beale his heirs and assigns forever to be 
holden of us and our heirs as of our manor of Calverton in free and 
Common Soccage by fealty only for all manner of Services yield- 
ing and paying therefore yearly unto us and our heirs at our 
receipt at the City of S. Maries at the two most usuall feasts in 
the year Viz at the feast of the Annunciacon of the blessed Virgin 
Mary and S. Michaell the arch angell. by even and equall porcons 
the rent of one pound eleven shills. and nine pence half penny 
Ster. in silver or gold and for a fine upon every alienacon of the 
said land or any part or parcell thereof one whole years rent in 
silver or gold or the full value thereof in such Commodities as 
wee and our heirs or such oflScer or ofiicers as shall be appointed 
by us and our heirs from time to time to Collect and receive the 
same shall accept in discharge thereof at the choice of us and our 
heirs or such officer or officers as aforesaid provided that if the 
said Sume for a fine for alienacon shall not be paid to us and our 
heirs or such officer or officers as aforesaid before such alienacon 
and the said alienacon entered upon Record either in the provin- 
ciall Court or in the County Court where the same parcell of land 
lyeth within one month next after such alienacon the said alien- 
acon shall be void & of no effect. Given under our greater Scale 
at arms this eighteenth day of November one thousand seven 
hundred and three Witness our Trusty and well beloved Coll. 
Henry Darnall keeper of our greater seale in our said province of 
Maryland 



Colonel Ninian Beall's Deed of Gift 
TO THE Presbyterian Congrega- 
tion, Upper Marlborough, 
Maryland, November 

20, 1704. 

To all Christian people to whome these presents shall come 
I Ninian Beall Senior of Prince Georges County in ye 
Province of Maryland Send Greeting: 
Know yee that I the said Ninian Beall being of a good and perfect 
minde and without any ffraud or deceipt for divers good Causes 
and Considerations me thereunto moving but more Especially for 
ye Propagation of ye Gospell of Christ Jesus, have given, Granted 
and Confirmed and by these Presents doo ffreely, voluntarily & 
absolutely give grant and confirme unto Nathaniell Taylor, Min- 
ister of ye Gospell to Robert Bradley James Stoddart John Battle 
Archibald Edmundson Thomas Beall Senior Thomas Beall Junior 
Ninian Beall Junior Charles Beall Christopher Thompson Joshua 
Hall John Browne John Henry James Beall Alexander Beall 
William Ophett John Soaper and to their Successors for ye Erec- 
tion and Building a House for the service of Almighty God that 
parcell of land being Part of a Tract of Land called the Meddows 
Lying on ye Western Branch of Patuxent River in Prince Georges 
County Beginning at a small Bounded Red Oake near ye North West 
Corner of the said Meeting house and running East tenn perches 
then South Eight perches then west tenn perches then north to ye 
first tree Containing halfe an acre of Land be it more or less To 
have and to Hold ye said Land and tennaments with their rights 
member and appurtenances thereunto belonging unto ye said 
Nathaniell Taylor Robert Bradley James Stoddart John Battle 
Archibald Edmundson Thomas Beall Senior Thomas Beall 
Junior Ninian Beall Junior Charles Beall Christopher Thomp- 
son Joshua Hall John Browne John Henry James Bell Alexnr 
Beall William Ophett John Soaper and to their Successors & 

(37) 



38 COLONEL NINIAN BE ALL 

and to their Onely Propper use for ye affore Mentioned use & 
no other from ye Day of the date hereof forever fireely Peac- 
ably & Quietly without any manner of Reclaime Challenge 
or Contradiction of me ye said Ninian Beall my heirs Executors 
admns or assigns or of any other Person or Persons by any meanes 
title or Procurement in any manner or wise and without any ac- 
count recoving or answer therefor to me or any in my name to be 
given rendred or don in time to Come See ye Neither I the said 
Ninian Beall my heirs &c nor any other Person or Persons by us 
for us or in our names or in ye names of any of us at any time 
hereafter may ask Claime Challenge or demand in or to ye Prom- 
ises or any Part thereof any Interest Right title or Possession but 
from all action of Right title Claims Interest use possession & 
demand thereof wee and Every of us to be utterly Excluded and 
forever debarred by these presents, And I the said Ninian Beall 
my Heirs &c ye said halfe acre of Land with the appurtenances 
unto ye above named Nathaniell Taylor &c and their Successors 
for ye use above mentioned against all people will warrant & De- 
fend by these presents and I the said Ninian Beall have putt ye 
said Nathaniell Taylor &c into peacable possession by the delivery 
of a Peice of money Called Six pence whc. I have paid & Deliv- 
ered unto ye said Nath Taylor in behalfe of himselfe and ye rest of 
ye above named persons the day & date hereof In Witness 
whereof I have hereunto sett my hand & Seale ye 20th day of 
November anno 1704 

Ninian Beai.l 
Signed Sealed and Delivered 
In Presens 
John Wight 
Saml Magruder 



Last Will and Testament of ninian 

BEALL, Executed January 15, 1717, 

Probated February 28, 1717. 

In the Name of God, Amen. 

I NINIAN BEALL of Prince George's County in the Province 
of Maryland being indisposed in body but of sound & per- 
fect memory God be praised for the same & considering the 
Mortality of Human nature and uncertainty of Life doe make 
ordaine Constitute & appoynt this to be my last Will & Testament 
in manner and form following Vizt 

Impri I give and bequeath my soule into the hands of almighty 
God in hopes of free pardon for all my Sinns and as for my body to 
be committed to the Earth from whence it came to be Decently 
buried at ye discression of my Trustees hereafter named. 

Item I will and bequeath that all my Debts and funerall charges 
be first paid and Satisfied and as for what portion of my Worldly 
Goods as shall be then Remaining I bequeath & bestow the same 
in manner following 

Item I doe give and bequeath unto my Sonn George my Planta- 
tion and tract of Land called the Rock of Dunbarton lying and 
being att Rock Creeke containing Four Hundred and Eight acres 
with all the stock thereon both Cattle and Hoggs them and their 
increase unto my said Sonn George & unto him and his heirs 
forever. 

Item I do allso give and bequeath unto sd son George Beall his 
choyce of one of my Feather bedds bolster & Pillow and other 
furniture thereunto belonging with two cows & calves and half my 
Sheepe from off this Plantation I now live on to him and his heirs 
forever. 

Item I do give and bequeath unto my sonn in Law Andrew 
Hambleton my Negro Woman Alee unto him his heirs forever. 

Item I doe give and bequeath unto my Grandaughter Mary 
Beall ye Daughter of my Sonn Ninian Beall Deceased the one 
halfe part of all my Movables or Personall Estate as Cattle & 

(39) 



40 COLONEL, NINIAN BEALL 

Hoggs Horses Household goods after my Leagacies before be- 
queathed are paid and satisfied unto her the said Mary & to her 
heirs forever. 

Item I doe give and bequeath unto my said Grandaughter 
Mary Beall all yt part of Bacon Hall that lyeth on ye South side of 
the Road that goeth to Mount Calvert to her the sd Mary & unto 
her heirs forever. 

Item I do give and bequeath unto my grandson Samuel Beall 
all the remainder part of Bacvon Hall togather with the Plantation 
& orchard & tobacco houses thereto belonging (with this Proviso) 
that when he comes to age of one and twenty yt that he make 
over by a Firm Conveyance all his Right and Title yt he hath 
unto a certain tract of land called Sam's beginning on the South 
side of the Sd Road going to Mount Calvert unto the sd Mary & 
unto her heirs forever, but if my said Grandson Should happen to 
dye before he arrive to be of that age to make over the land soe 
as aforesaid then I do give and bequeath unto my said Gran- 
daughter Mary ye whole Trackt of Bacon Hall with the houses and 
orchard thereon unto her and her heirs forever. 

Item I doe give and bequeath unto my Said Grandson Samuel 
Beall my Water Mill Lying upon Collington Branch with the Stones 
Iron Works Houses & all other materials thereunto belonging uuto 
the sd Samuel and unto his heirs forever. 

Item I give and bequeath unto my Son in Law Joseph Belt part 
of a tract of land called good luck containing two hundred forty- 
five Acres he allowing unto my heirs ye Sume of four thousand 
Pounds of Tobacco according to our former agreement he deduct- 
ing what I doe owe him on his book for Severall Wares & Mer- 
chandizes had of him to the said Joseph and unto his heirs forever. 

Item that whereas I doe owe Several debts I doe empower my 
Trustees hereafter named to enable them to pay the same to sell 
a Certain Tract of Land called the Recovery lying & being in the 
Freshes of the Patuxent River near the head of the Western 
Branch to be sold it containeth four Hundred acres, the aforesaid 
Tract of Land bequeathed unto my Sonn Bellt is adjoining thereto. 

Item I do give and bequeath unto my Son Charles Beall a Booke 
of Bishop Cooper's works the Acts of the Church & the Chron- 
ocle of King Charles ye first and King Charles ye Second ye 
second and I doe hereby request and obleidge my sonn Charles my 



COLONEL NINIAN BEALL 41 

son Belt and my son George to send for a Dozen of Books intitled 
an advice to young & old & middle age sett forth by one Mr 
Christopher Ness ye books to be distributed amongst my Grand- 
children & God Sone. 

Item I do give and bequeath unto my Sonn Charles a Thousand 
acres of Land called Dunnback lying on the South Side of great 
Choptank in a Creeke called Waltres creek unto him & his heirs 
forever and Lastly I doe make ordeine declare and appoint my 
Grandson Samuel Beall to be my Sole and whole Execur of this 
my last Will and Testament and I do desier my loveing Sonns 
Charles Beall Joseph Belt and George Beall to doe and perform 
my Desier as above Exprest and to act and doe for my Executor 
untill he arrive to the age of one and twenty hereby revoaking 
and annulling all former and other Wills by me att any time here- 
tofore made and signed and doe desier my said Sonns to use their 
best care and indeavor that my two Grandchildren the children 
of my beloved Sonn Ninian Beall Deceased be brought and have 
their Education Suitable to ther Esteate and I doe alsoe appoynt 
and desier my said Sonns Trustees to this my Will to make their 
appearance every easter Tuesday or any other time as they shall 
think a more fitting time att my Dwelling Plantation yearly to 
inspect into all affaires thereof and of a yearly increase of all 
the Creatures upon my Plantation and att the Mill for and on the 
behalfe of my two Grandchildren who are to be Joynt Sharers 
therein my grandaughter to have her part at ye day of Marriage. 

In Testimony whereof I have to this my last Will & Testament 
Sett my hand and Seale this fifteenth day of January in the Yeare 
of Our Lord God one thousand and seven Hundred and Seventeen. 

the mark of 
Ninian X Beall (Seal) 



LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OF THE 

SOCIETY OF COLONIAL WARS IN THE DISTRICT OF 

COLUMBIA, ORGANIZED MAY 20, 1893. 



Register of the Society. 1897. With portrait of Richard Worsam 
Meade, Rear-Admiral, U.S.N, pp. 124. 

Register of the Society. 1904. With frontispiece of badge of 
the Society of Colonial Wars, portrait of Francis Asbury Roe, Rear- 
Admiral, U.S.N. , First Governor of the Society, and other officers. 
Twenty-two portraits, pp. 214. 

MEMORIAL PAPERS. 

No. 1. George Brown Goode. By A. Howard Clark. With 
portrait, pp. 8. 1896. 

No. 2. Charles Frederick Tiffany Beale. By Marcus Benjamin. 
With portrait, pp. 13. 1902. 

No. 3. William Herman Wilhelm, Captain, U.S.A. By Ethan 
Allen Weaver. With portrait, pp. 9. 1902. 

No. 4. Francis Asbury Roe, Rear-Admiral, U.S.N. By Marcus 
Benjamin. With portrait and eight other illustrations, pp. 35. 1903. 

No. 5. Gilbert Thompson. By Marcus Benjamin. With portrait, 
pp. 18. 1910. 

No. 6. Frederic Wolters Huidekoper. By Frederic Louis Huide- 
koper. With portrait, chronology, notices and resolutions, pp. 
42. 1910. 

HISTORICAL PAPERS. 

No. 1. The Colonial Boundaries of Virginia and Maryland. By 
Gilbert Thompson. With map. pp. 8. 1899- 

No. 2. An American Sea Captain of Colonial Times. By Francis 
Asbury Roe, Rear-Admiral, U.S.N, pp. 11. 19OO. 

No. 3. Historical Military Powder-horns. By Gilbert Thompson. 
With eleven illustrations, pp. 16. 19OI. 

No. 4. Historical Address at Dedication of the Braddock Boulder, 
Nov. 10, 1907. By Marcus Benjamin. With four illustrations, pp. 
16. 19O8. 

No. 5. Colonel Joseph Belt. By Caleb Clarke Magruder, Jr. 
With Patent and illustration of "Chevy Chase" manor-house, pp. 
36. 1909. 

No. 6. Historical Address at Dedication of the Colonel Ninian 
Beall Boulder, October 30, 191O. By Caleb Clarke Magruder, Jr. 



With six illustrations, Grant for "Bacon Hall," Patent for "Rock 
of Dunbarton," Deed of Gift to Patuxent (Md.) Congregation, and 
Colonel Beall's Will, pp.44. 1911. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Address of Welcome, by his Excellency, Governor Francis A. 
Roe, U.S.N. , at first dinner of the Society, December 19, 1893. 
pp.8. 

Preliminary draft of a Constitution, printed upon half -sheets and 
sent to members for suggestions, pp. 18. November, 1894. 

The preceding was adopted and printed in February, 1895. A 
circular of four pages, with preamble and qualifications for mem- 
bership, was printed, 1895; also, a similar circular, giving list of 
members, was printed January, 1896. 

A list of membership is published annually as a circular, pp. 4. 

The Year Book and Register of the Society, 1897, contains the 
Constitution and By-Laws as amended to that date. 

Preliminary draft of Constitution, printed and sent to members 
for suggestions. With cover, pp.17. April, 1902. 

The preceding was adopted without change. May 13, 1902, and 
printed, with embossed seal of the Society on the cover, pp. 16. 

First Service, Sunday, February 12, 1905. St. John's Church, 
Georgetown, D. C. (With embossed seal.) pp. 12. 

Second Annual Service, Sunday, February 18, 1906. St. John's 
Church, Washington. (With embossed seal.) pp. 12. 

Third Annual Service, Sunday, February 17, 1907. Epiphany 
Church, Washington. (Without seal.) pp.12. 

Dedication service, Sunday, November 10, 1907. Cathedral 
Grounds, D. C. One illustration of the Braddock tablet and 
boulder, pp. 12. 

Fourth Annual Church Service, Sunday, April 26, 1908. Christ 
Church, Georgetown, D. C. (Without seal. ) pp. 8. 

Fifth Annual Church Service, Sunday, May 2, 1909. St. John's 
Church, Washington. (Without seal.) pp. 9. 

Sixth Annual Church Service, Sunday, May 8, 1910. St. John's 
Church, Washington. (Without seal.) pp. 9. 

Dedication Service, Sunday, October 30, 1910. Colonel Ninian 
Beall memorial. St John's Church, Georgetown, D. C. With 
illustration of tablet and boulder, pp. 10. 

C-\LEB Clarke Magruder, Jr., 

Historian. 

January 27, 1911. 



Jj^J^RY OF CONGRESS 

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